Ahead of the Class: Florida Sea Grant Delivers Marine Education
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Since the 1970s, Florida Sea Grant's extension program has advised anglers, divers, government
planners and resource managers on responsible practices for artificial reef planning, building
and monitoring. Sea Grant research conducted on artificial reefs since the 1980s has provided
scientific understanding of reef ecology and engineering, in order to improve the reef
deployment, design and evaluation process. (Rob Bronson, Jacksonville Reef Research Team)
Scientific and professional education is critical to conveying scientific discoveries to others as soon as possible. This educational process allows the new information to be implemented in academia, in industry and through the regulatory process. It saves time and money and prevents other scientists from "reinventing the wheel." It is also important for scientists and other professionals to continuously retrain themselves to make sure their own talents and programs remain current. Florida Sea Grant efforts in this area range from funded research faculty making scientific presentations at statewide, regional or international conferences, to a workshop for county-based artificial reef program managers where they learn the latest monitoring techniques to evaluate their reefs, to inservice training programs for the Sea Grant Extension faculty to learn about integrated ocean observing systems, a new program area for them over the next decade.
Florida Sea Grant associate director William Seaman fields questions from a
media crew covering an artificial reef workshop. As interest by sport fishermen
and divers continues to grow in artificial reefs, Florida Sea Grant supports the
transfer of technical information among resource managers, researchers, and
others that study and evaluate reef performance. (Florida Sea Grant)
Researchers and extension faculty routinely contribute to the educational arena as presenters at professional meetings, conferences and workshops. At the same time, researchers funded in whole or in part by Florida Sea Grant publish their findings through research journals, departmental or university productions and through Sea Grant publications. Sea Grant faculty are routinely sought out by the media for their expertise in coastal and marine issues. These efforts combine to help ensure that science-based knowledge becomes public information.
Including journal articles, reports, brochures, posters, and videos and the like, Florida Sea Grant generated more than 475 productions from 2000-04 to provide science-based, educational information resulting from Sea Grant's research and extension program goal areas.
Artificial Reefs
Artificial reefs can enhance recreational fishing, create dive sites, and mitigate damage to ocean habitat. Florida's coastal waters are estimated to contain about half of all artificial reefs deployed in the U.S., and their popularity with a diverse set of stakeholders has made this a priority topic for Florida Sea Grant research and outreach efforts. Technical results from more than a dozen research projects have been transferred to select fishery and habitat resource managers through regional fisheries management councils; synthesis of this research and other information, coupled with a proactive educational effort, has had an impact on artificial reef technology globally.
Sea Grant researchers who make presentations at professional
conferences and workshops help ensure that information is transferred in a timely
fashion, so that research results can be implemented in academia, industry, and
through the regulatory process. Above, William Kem of the University of Florida
and Carolina Moller of Florida Atlantic University discuss findings at a BioFlorida
conference. (Florida Sea Grant)
Through a Florida Sea Grant coastal environmental and water quality
design team that involved faculty from four universities, two
publications were produced to support educational efforts in subjects
identified by field personnel as needed. The first, Nutrients and
Florida's Coastal Waters, examines the links between people, increased
nutrients and changes to coastal aquatic systems. The companion
piece, Submarine Groundwater Discharge, addresses groundwater
basics, provides Florida examples of the influence of groundwater
discharge on water quality, and the complexity of water management.
(Florida Sea Grant)
After inaugurating a periodic statewide summit of reef users, managers and scientists in 1987, Sea Grant turned over lead responsibility for subsequent meetings to the (agency now known as the) Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. These summits provide up-to-date technical training on how to more effectively plan, construct and monitor artificial reefs. In 2001 and 2004, Sea Grant coordinated these summits and contributed presentations. In addition, Sea Grant published the results of its survey of artificial reef monitoring efforts in Florida counties to help educate county staff in methods of documenting reef performance. As a follow-up to the latest meeting, Sea Grant made plans to organize a short course on Geographic Information Systems applications to Florida county artificial reef programs.
In the national and international setting, Florida Sea Grant associate director William Seaman has delivered reef evaluation research to an American Fisheries Society continuing education workshop; reef planning conferences in Korea and Canada, and the 2004 World Fisheries Congress. Seaman has also edited a comprehensive guide to artificial reef evaluation topics written by an international team of experts; the book is recognized as the first volume to combine such essential disciplines as engineering, economics, biology, and statistics for proper evaluation of reef performance.
The 14th International Pectinid Workshop was coordinated by Florida Sea Grant extension
faculty. The workshop was held in 2003 in St. Petersburg, the first
time the conference has been held in the U.S. in a number of years. (UF/IFAS)
Sea Grant extension faculty provide coordination for the exchange of information among scientists and fisheries managers at the international level. LeRoy Creswell, Sea Grant extension agent in St. Lucie County, has recently served as the chair of the steering and program committee for the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI), founded in 1947 to promote the exchange of current information on the use and management of marine resources in the Gulf and Caribbean region.
GCFI provides scientific, governmental, and commercial sectors - groups which often operate in relative isolation from one another - with the opportunity to exchange perspectives on current fisheries issues. The GCFI has provided a dialogue that has enabled NOAA fisheries scientists, for instance, to discuss management of tropical and subtropical species common to this region. The 2002 GCFI, held in Xel-ha, Mexico, attracted more than 140 oral and poster presentations. Creswell edited and distributed the proceedings of that meeting to 200 members, 82 libraries and three international scientific databases.
Don Sweat, marine extension agent for five southwest coastal counties, and Norman Blake, Florida Sea Grant campus coordinator at the University of North Florida, cochaired the 14th International Pectinid Workshop, a conference dedicated to the sharing of research on the scallop species of the world, particularly those of commercial importance. It gave more than 120 researchers, resource managers, aquaculturists, conservationists, fishermen, and economists from 26 countries the opportunity to network and discuss a species whose demand is rapidly expanding while natural stocks dwindle.
Florida Sea Grant graduate of the Florida Natural Resources Leadership Institute Broward
County marine agent Dianne Behringer, shown attending a Clean Marina designation ceremony with Clean
Marina representative Paul Thompson.
One of the most effective means available to Sea Grant for advancing professional education across Florida has been through sponsorship of visits and seminars by renowned marine scholars. The Elise B. Newell Seminar Series annually enables five or six experts in coastal and ocean disciplines to visit one or more campuses over about a three-day period, mentor students, and develop collaborations with Florida faculty. The series, named for Florida Sea Grant's long-time fiscal officer, who herself was a valued mentor, has funded visits from faculty at institutions such as the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences of Rutgers, Oregon State University, Tufts University, and Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences. Topics ranged from genomics to ecolabeling, endocrine disruptors, aquaculture, fisheries policy and harmful algal blooms.
Natural Resources Leadership
Florida Sea Grant has capitalized on the University of Florida's Natural Resources Leadership Institute, a program that helps rising leaders develop skills that build consensus around contentious environmental issues and move beyond conflict to find resolution. Five extension faculty have graduated. Over the course of a year, they participated in seven three-day sessions and completed a course practicum.
Florida Sea Grant graduate of the Florida Natural Resources Leadership Institute Miami-Dade County marine agent Marella Crane (right), whose
practicum focused on a calendar poster featuring art from the Biscayne Bay area. (Florida Sea Grant)
The 2005 Florida Natural Resources Leadership Institute has an emphasis on the impact of coastal development on the state's salt and freshwater resources.
Professional Development
In order to effectively transfer technology and the latest scientific information to marine and coastal users, Florida Sea Grant extension faculty receive annual, ongoing training in delivery skills and technical content. Sea Grant actively supports professional training and development - each county faculty member receives, on average, at least 15 days of professional development training. Delivery techniques may cover dealing with conflict, project design, program evaluation, management and development, and leadership and communication. Typical inservice training may cover current topics in fisheries conservation, marine education, ocean observation systems, invasive species, coastal water quality, Florida Everglades restoration, marine aquaculture, seafood safety, rip currents, or waterway and boating management. Sea Grant faculty often take the leadership in developing these in-service training sessions. Examples include:
The annual Florida Sea Grant extension faculty meeting provides staff with the updates
on topics in coastal issues they need to effectively plan programming for the coming year.
Scientists and agency personnel also attend. Recently, representatives from NOAA
Fisheries and the Florida Museum of Natural History provided presentations on fishery management
and shark issues. Program leaders from Sea Grant programs in the Gulf of Mexico region provided a
discussion on mercury in fish and its potential impacts. Researchers from the University of South Florida
discussed ocean observation systems and potential educational activities. This annual meeting is designed to
allow Florida Sea Grant extension state and county faculty time to discuss and develop annual plans
of work at both the state and county level. (Florida Sea Grant)
- Sea Grant economist Chuck Adams has developed an annual workshop on sustainable marine fisheries that addresses a variety of national and state management and conservation issues for county extension faculty. The workshops lead to the development of county plans of work that emphasize fishery issues.
- Sea Grant estuarine ecologist Chuck Jacoby has coordinated a series of workshops focusing on contemporary watershed issues during 2002-2004. University of Florida/IFAS Extension state and county faculty, including Sea Grant faculty, attended these interdisciplinary workshops.
- Many of Sea Grant's county faculty have completed Florida Master Naturalist Program Workshops, and become certified in both the wetlands and coastal modules. Some of these faculty have gone on to develop Master Naturalist Programs in their respective counties.